Once in a Blue Moon: Tosca Cafe, CW Nevius, and US

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

Not an entirely scientific occurrence, blue moons refer mostly to the second full moon that occurs within the same month. The idea took hold when a journal misunderstood the initial meaning and reported the error so widely it was assumed true. Originally, a blue moon referred to the third moon in a four moon growing cycle created by farmers in Maine. It is also not usually blue. Blue colored moons can occur if there is enough particulate matter in the atmosphere, like after a volcanic eruption. The blue moon has also been romanticized via the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley, and sentimentalized as a time for lost or estranged lovers to miss one another and pine away in film, literature and art.

The colloquial phrase refers to something one does not do very often, literally, about once every 2.7 years or so. What kinds of things do you do every 2.7 years, or so? Smoke a cigarette, clean out your closet, get a family portrait? How about making peace with an enemy?

Tim Redmond of the SF Bay Guardian appears to be suggesting just that. In his regular blurb aptly titled, “WTF, Chuck?”, he takes to task one of San Francisco’s most notorious columnists, CW Nevius, and his often inciting pieces. This week, Redmond gives Chuck a call to action to do something once-in-a-blue-moon style, and give the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Recycling Center the same benefit of history he has bestowed upon the little north beach bar, Tosca Cafe. Famous for their hot chocolate brandy and regular patronage by the film community, the cafe was just served with a 30 day eviction notice for back rent owed. Tosca Cafe is the third oldest saloon in the city; the Haight Ashbury Recycling Center is the second oldest of its kind, too.

Consider Chuck’s own comments on this sort of preservation when it comes to Tosca Cafe:

“People are reportedly warning Forbes not to mess with Tosca. Putting in a strip club is one thing. Evicting an institution is another. You’ll still get a nice sum in rent and you won’t incur the wrath of the city’s famously combative true believers.

That’s good advice.” says Nevius in closing his latest article.

How about it Chuck? Why not make peace with the recycling center and be the hero of this whole thing? Then we can make a movie about it and toast at Tosca Cafe. Stranger things have happened-once in a blue moon.

The link below will take you to the CW Nevius Article on the eviction of Tosca Cafe